Taijarae Miller has spent much of her life living in Clarksville, and considers herself a law-abiding citizen. But she's quick to admit she’s gotten three red-light camera tickets over the years.

When she got the first two, she paid them without a thought.

"I never really had a problem with it," she said. "I always felt that I ran the light, so I will go ahead and pay the ticket."

But when she recently received her third red-light ticket, Miller noticed a disclaimer on the citation with two conflicting statements.

The first one said, in all caps, "Payment is required by law." But in the very next line, the citation said: "Non-payment of this notice cannot adversely affect your credit score or report, driver's license, and/or automobile insurance rates."

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A second notice sent to Taijarae Miller about a red-light ticket, notifies her of an additional $85 fee if she doesn't pay. The contradictory disclaimers are in bold, stating both that payment is required by law, and that non-payment cannot impact her credit score, driver's license, or auto insurance rates.(Photo: Jennifer Babich/The Leaf-Chronicle)

Miller decided to reach out to ask a community chat group on social media to weigh in on whether she should send in her $50 to settle the ticket.

The response was immediate, overwhelming and contradictory.

"No intentions on paying."

"You better. Your license will be revoked."

"I've gotta stack that goes back to 2010 ... never paid one."

"It will just go to collections."

"It's not enforced, and you're just lining the pockets of a third party gotcha program. It's not admissible in court."

"You do get points added to your license if not paid."

"It's a scam. You do not have to pay it. It's not legal."

After nearly 300 comments, Taijarae was still no closer to getting her question answered.

SoThe Leaf-Chronicle investigated on her behalf.

Caught on camera

Clarksville's red-light cameras are run by Redflex Traffic Systems, an Australian-based company responsible for installing and maintaining the cameras.

Right now, the city has seven red-light cameras installed at four intersections:

Wilma Rudolph Boulevard and Trenton Road.

Wilma Rudolph and Interstate 24.

Wilma Rudolph and Dunbar Cave Road.

101st Airborne Division Parkway and Whitfield Road.

But the program could soon be expanding.

The Clarksville Police Department say it's looking into installing cameras at four additional intersections, selected based on their high crash rates.

"We look for clear violations," he explained, demonstrating how the department backs up the video while reviewing it to determine the exact position of the car and its distance from the intersection when the light turned red. He points out that the lights are timed to allow at least 4.5 seconds for a yellow warning light, so drivers have more than enough time to stop.

Once the citation is certified, Redflex issues the $50 ticket to the registered owner of the vehicle.

For police, it's a matter of public safety.

"We have to use as many tools as we can," Lewis said. "This is one of many tools that we have to try to make (the roads) safer."

But he admits it's tough to provide empirical evidence that Clarksville's red-light cameras are accomplishing that goal, and he points to the area's rapid growth as the reason.

"Based on the increase of the population here, we are not seeing the decrease (in red-light runners) that we had hoped to see," Lewis said. "The rapid growth makes it difficult to quantify how much influence the cameras are having."

Who gets the money?

People who get a citation in the mail can choose to pay the fine, go to city court to fight the fine or ignore the ticket altogether.

Police estimate that on average, only a couple people per month fight the tickets. The police officer who certifies the ticket must also appear in court, should someone choose to exercise the right to due process.

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Cars waiting for a traffic signal to change under the watch of the red-light cameras at Wilma Rudolph Boulevard and Trenton Road.(Photo: Jennifer Babich/The Leaf-Chronicle)

As for the money collected from those who pay up?

The city of Clarksville spits the revenue with Redflex. Of the money received by the city, 75 percent goes to police and the rest goes to the parks department.

But Lewis says it's not a matter of money.

"It’s about educating people,” he said.

These days, a growing number of people seem to be choosing option three — simply ignoring the ticket. Most argue that the tickets themselves are not lawful. It’s a position that seems to be reinforced by a lack of consequences, as spelled out on the citations.

Legal controversy

Controversy surrounding the red-light camera program came to a head in 2016, when State Rep. Andy Holt, a Republican from Dresden, burned one of his own tickets in a video that went viral.

It happened after he sponsored a bill to outlaw the use of the cameras in a previous session. The final version of that bill, which passed the General Assembly, only banned the use of some speed cameras.

Tennessee state Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dresden, burned one of his red-light camera tickets in a viral video.(Photo: Contributed)

In 2016, Holt sponsored another bill that became state law, requiring traffic camera vendors to include the statement on citations that reads, "non-payment of this notice cannot adversely affect your credit score or report, driver's license, and/or automobile insurance rates."

But many citations — like the one Taijarae received — also say payment is required by law.

Holt believes that, too, is a violation of state law. He says he plans to take his fight to the courts, even though the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office has thus far upheld the constitutionality of the program in every challenge.

"My goal is to ultimately eliminate all photo enforcement in the state of Tennessee," said Holt in a recent phone interview. "Putting a camera at an intersection doesn't do anything to improve safety and deter criminal activity."

Holt contends that the law allowing photo enforcement tools was fundamentally flawed from the start, because the same crime cannot be both criminal and civil in the eyes of the state.

Instead, he views it as an unscrupulous practice that privatizes police power for profit.

But do you have to pay?

Opponents of traffic cameras, like Holt, contend you do not have to pay.

"As a Tennessee state lawmaker," said Holt, "I am encouraging people not to pay these tickets ever."

And the truth is, with no real consequences for non-payment besides the possibility that unpaid tickets could be reported to a collections agency, there is little incentive to pony up the fine.

Furthermore, the chances that any unpaid fines would be reported to collections are slim. That's because Redflex says it's up to the city of Clarksville to do so, while city officials say it's up to Redflex.

So, the short answer is no, you don’t have to pay.

But for police officers like Lewis, who must deal with the repercussions of every fatal accident in Clarksville, a number which totaled at least a dozen so far this year, the fine is not the point.

“To me, the issue is whether they run the red light,” he said. He added that for people who do pay, much of that money goes back into the enforcement program, thus providing some bit of restitution for violating the law.

For Lewis, the answer and the overall goal is simple: “Don’t run the red light."

And his response to folks like Holt, who question the lawfulness of the program?

“It will be an issue with those types of people until they have a family member killed,” he said.

Miller said she’ll likely go ahead and pay the ticket.

“I just don’t want it to come back and bite me,” said said.

In the future, she plans to slow down and be more aware when driving through those intersections — exactly what officers like Lewis hope to hear.

Reach Jennifer Babich at 931-245-0742 or by email at jbabich@gannett.com.